All Forum Posts by: Chad Clanton

Hi there, and welcome to the forums! Great bunch of folks here, and tons of information. I'm a resident of Virginia and just starting out, but am looking into the feasibility and practice of investing out of state, and have lately been looking into Texas markets. I'd like to start with rehabs and then transition into rentals, preferably multi-families; however, given my location and hours, I'd need to outsource essentially everything (though ultimately that would be the plan if I lived down the road, as well). I'm interested in discussing a full time or part time partnership (or some variation thereof) with a resident of the area, if anyone is interested; it strikes me that two motivated beginners may be better than one, especially in terms of mutual motivation and establishing (and then exceeding) comfort zones. Feel free to contact me at any time and again, welcome to BP! (By the way, J Scott's books mentioned above are outstanding. I read the flipping book on the way to California a couple months ago; very, very informative and easy to read). Take care, and good luck!

Oops, I should probably mention that I am primarily interested in flips for the time being, though I'm not completely against the idea of a multifamily buy-and-hold. Any advice on the area would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!

Hi all, I'm in central VA and have been trying to get in on a few deals in a few locales, but no luck as yet. I'd prefer to keep my investing local-ish, but my surrounding areas seem pretty stripped bare, at least to my VERY inexperienced eye. That said, the Norfolk area seems to have a ton of inventory, but also quite a few sales. I'm wondering if anyone in the area could clue me in on the market there? I'm perusing the forums as we speak and trying to dig up some other Norfolk RE info, but there's not much better than someone who actually lives in and knows the market. Thanks to everyone who's responded to my posts thus far; this site is amazing! Thanks everyone.

Hi Kyle, I've been digging through the MLS for a few months now (of course, I have no previous RE experience), and have finally put in two offers in the past couple months. The first was a six year old house with a busted foundation, though the house was supported just right that the "house proper" was still in generally great shape, minus some minor aesthetics, though no major stress fractures in the living portion. It had been dropping since January, starting at 134K, down to 79K when we ran across it in June or so, then 69K in July. We'd begun due diligence (rather than wrapping it up under contract; a mistake, viewed retrospectively) at 79K, put the offer in three days after it hit 69K, and were behind two other same day offers, after six months of no interest. ALL I can figure is it popped up on the filter radar when it hit 69K, and there she went.

So, I guess that was somewhat afield of the point, but basically everything that catches my eye in my range is pending by the time I see it; there are literally two properties available in some of the major metro areas here in Virginia that fit my criteria, and my margin preferences are fairly small. I work full time as well, which really helps us out on the funds and credit side, but severely inhibits my ability to constantly scan the MLS, network, do walkthroughs, and the like.

That said, I believe that in addition to continuing to look over the MLS, I'm going to start trying some direct mailing as well; I think I'm too keyed in, and need to start experimenting and stop being so cheap on my marketing. Thanks for the posts, they are always much appreciated.

Recently we made an offer on a great looking 2007-build foreclosure in our area, with a trashed (though amazingly, still supportive [enough]) foundation, owing to the earthquake down here in VA a couple years ago. The price had just dropped (again) to $69k, after being on the market since January. We'd done a walkthrough, gotten our pre approval letter (FHA 203k loan) from our lender after consulting with the appropriate contractors, and concluded we'd need 60k in repairs in renovations, on the high side. However, that would still have put purchase and repair cost 70k under the most recent assessment of the property. So, we went for it. Of course, as luck would have it, two other parties decided to jump in just then, and the bank took one of their offers :-P Such is life. I'm just psyched that it pushed me to stop "preparing" to make an offer on something. As a result of trying to get this property, I found a so-far great lender, good real estate agent, got pre qualified, and dealt with the county building inspectors and a number of contractors. Which is to say, I managed to get a LOT of input for a non-deal, so I'm chalking it up as a win!

Awesome, I appreciate the sanity check :-) There is obviously soooo much to learn, but I love processes, as long as they're not arbitrary and generally make sense (those kinds drive me nuts), so insofar as administrative work is concerned, this is about the most satisfaction I've had in a long time. Lovin' it, and loving BP. I swear, I can't even type in a new thread without having an automatic suggestion answering the question I was going to ask ;-) Awesome feature too!

Hi there all, just curious. I've been studying here on the site for a few months, and am brand new to real estate. I'm loving the learning aspect of it, and am still trying to build up the basic concepts in my head. I'm also driving my wife crazy with my research and decision making process, methinks :-) Every time I talk to a lender, realtor, another investor, tax assessor, building inspector...pretty much everyone I've interacted with so far, basically, I learn something new that ever so slightly adjusts my course of action. As much as I'm trying to soak up, though, those "ever so slightlies" mean I'm constantly adapting my strategy, periodically to a rather large degree. Or possibly, I'm just being a bit TOO detail oriented (is there such a thing?). No real negative issues with it, I'm just curious if I'm the only one. :-P Take care everybody, and good luck!

-Chad C.

Hi Nicole, welcome! I'm a newbie in VA, and just attempted essentially the same thing, insofar as using the HELOC goes (though we ended up getting a personal loan instead, with a payment we knew we could make without it hurting us too badly). Someone else ended up getting the property, but hey, maybe next time :-)

The plan was for the HELOC on our current house to cover holding costs until we got out from under said current house (trying to free up some more capital), not for downpayment or anything. That way, the payments on the HELOC would be scaled to the term the property was held, rather than using and then paying a large portion monthly for some type of downpayment. That said, we were going to go the 203k loan route, which was significantly better than the commercial loan options I found at my local banks.

I forget who said it (it was probably in one of the podcasts, maybe J Scott?), but something I've found true my entire adult life is that you don't have to know everything, just know the next step and who needs to be involved in that step (or some variation on that paraphrase). I know, especially after hearing that and looking back, I'd never have gotten anything done if I'd relied on myself to figure out everything. Keep on looking around, and be creative! There are always options, we've just got to figure them out. Good luck!

Hi Kristin, and welcome to BP (from someone who's been here about 5 minutes longer than you have :-P)! I've been working on putting together a strategy to build capital through flipping and ease into buy and hold; it's great to hear someone able to make a decision and make it happen so successfully! Is your multi-family in a low vacancy area, or is the area representative of the overall Spokane rental market in that regard? Good luck, and keep up the great work!

@chris martin, now I see where the disconnect is. You speak the language quite well, whereas I'm still essentially learning to talk :-) For instance, I think I found at least five new terms to look up from your last post! Just goes to show how much there is to learn, and I do appreciate your sharing your perspective with me. I think my first thing I need to know is just how little I know, and then go forward from there :-) Thanks Chris!